Background

For decades, Georgian mining has generated important revenues to the national budget and local economies. It is an established and open mining market. Under the current legislative framework, all minerals (mines and quarries), coal, and groundwater comprise the “minerals sector.” In the last five years especially, renewed interest in Georgia’s mining sector has emerged. Overall the sector employs 3,0000 Georgians, more than 4,000 licenses have been issued, and it is estimated that 30% of exports are mineral-related (processed and semi-processed minerals). Mining in Georgia presently achieves a number of policy objectives, e.g.: revenue generation, job creation, and infrastructure development. The overall investment climate in Georgia ranks highly amongst comparative world markets. However, the state of modern mineral management in terms of modern governance and capacity needs to be strengthened.

The experience of a number of states has shown that adopting modern strategies, methodologies, policy, and legislation, while also strengthening regulatory institutions, is essential for attracting responsible investments and sector development.

Currently, the responsible body, Legal Entity of Public Law (LEPL) the National Agency of Mines (NAM), operates under the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia (MoESD), strive to establish, improve and effectively implement mining sector reform by elaborating the regulatory framework, methodologies, and relevant standards. The implemented reform will allow the Government of Georgia (GoG) to capture financial returns, improve the management of mineral resources and ensure the country’s environmental protection.

The first phase of the Mining Sector Reform, supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), has been successfully completed. The international consulting company has developed the Mining Sector Policy document that seeks to strengthen institutional arrangements, legislative framework and accountable operations in the mining sector. Furthermore, it will improve investment promotion and facilitate transparency of the sector.  The document will be presented to the GoG for approval in the near future. At the same time, negotiations for initiating the second phase are underway, within which the legislative framework will be updated.

Strengthening inspection functions and mechanisms are one of the most important directions of the Mining Sector Policy Document and the overall reform process. In 2017, due to structural changes of the government, establishing licensing conditions and supervisory functions became the sole responsibility of the NAM. Previously, licensing was carried out by the National Environmental Agency (NEA) and monitoring functions were performed by the Environmental Supervision Department (ESD). Both of them were operating under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia. Despite the changes, monitoring of illegal mining still remains the function of ESD and all other functions related to the mining sector were shifted to the newly established National Agency of Mines.   

To further increase the efficiency of monitoring and inspection mechanism whether the companies are meeting the licensing conditions, it is essential to strengthen the capacity of the newly established  agency, develop the comprehensive inspection guidelines and set criteria based on the good international practices. The elaborated documents will ensure compliance with safety, environmental and quality objectives and standards at all levels. The Mining Sector Policy and Strategy document also encompasses capacity development of inspectors, providing them with periodic training in order to enhance their knowledge, improve skills and qualification. As the expertise for elaboration the inspection guidelines and mechanisms do not exist in Georgia, the NAM requires UNDP to provide the support and technical assistance through international expert for the development of the above-mentioned documents and establish a sound inspection framework. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of the consultancy is to support the NAM to strengthen the mining sector administration and institutional oversight functions for mining inspection. For this purpose, capacity development is essential to improve the skills of mine inspectorates, as well as elaborate the inspection guidelines, mechanisms, criteria and special requirements based on the mining sector management modern practices and good international practice.

This consultancy will be preceded by the development of risk assessment methodology, which should serve as the basis of inspection guidelines. Accordingly, the consultancy period and related deliverable should be defined once the aforementioned document is elaborated.  

The scope of work for the International consultant will include, but may not be limited to:

• Desk review of the existing NAM practice and criteria how the agency is conducting an inspection of the license owner mining companies;
• Conduct situation analysis and consultations with the key stakeholders (inspectors, environmental NGOs, private mining companies) in order to identify most pressing challenges regarding the inspection mechanisms in the Georgian mining sector;
• Analyze findings and recommendations gathered during the desk review and consultations;
• Study international good practices in order to provide recommendations on relevant models/systems, tailored to the Georgian context;
• Elaborate the guidelines and set of criteria for inspection based on the international good practices in close cooperation with the Agency staff and relevant stakeholders (ensure appropriate parties are involved in the process);
• Present the elaborated draft documents with the agency (management and inspectors) and solicit feedback from key stakeholders;
• Finalise the documents based on solicited feedback;
• Facilitate two workshops (one workshop on the main findings of the desk review and consultations; And the second workshop to present the elaborated documents to key stakeholders, - civil society, environmental NGOs, private mining companies);
• Prepare the training module on the inspection mechanism;
• Conduct the trainings for two groups of inspectors and relevant agency staff based on the elaborated inspection guideline, mechanism and criteria and introduce the modern approaches;
• Prepare the final report of the mission.

Deliverables:

1. Desk review report of the existing practice of conducting inspection of the mining companies;
2. Good international practices of mining sector inspection mechanisms;
3. Workshop with key stakeholders to present the main findings of the first mission;
4. Elaborated inspection mechanisms;
5. Developed guidelines for inspections that are aligned with international good practices;
6. Workshop with key stakeholders to present the elaborated and finalized documents to stakeholders)
7. Training module on inspection mechanisms;
8. Trainings of inspectors and agency staff;
9. Meeting at the national level (private sector, civil society and environmental NGO representatives) to introduce the finalized documents;
10. Training report containing information on the accomplishment and scope of work as well as respective recommendations based on observations made during the trainings;
11. Final consultancy report covering work conducted during the mission including major findings and recommendations as well as technical training results.

Management Arrangements:

The Consultant will work under the overall supervision of the Governance Reform Fund (GRF) Project Manager and the direct supervision of the GRF Environmental Coordinator. The expert will have close working relations with representatives of the NCDC and other governmental institutions during the process of developing the regulatory policy documents with the aim of ensuring the overall vision and priorities of the GoG are taken into consideration. The service provider will be directly responsible to, reporting to, seeking approval from, and obtaining certificate of acceptance of outputs from the above-mentioned institutions. In addition, the respective GRF team will be responsible for sharing relevant documents, contact details and other necessary information with the service provider.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Understanding of the mandate and the role of UNDP would be an asset;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional competencies:

• Strong communication and analytical skills;
• Demonstrated skills in drafting reports;
• Ability to work under pressure with several tasks and various deadlines;
• Actively generates creative, practical approaches and solutions to overcome challenging situations;
• Excellent writing, presentation/public speaking skills;
• A pro-active approach to problem-solving;
• Computer literacy.

 Leadership and Self-Management skills:

• Builds strong relationships with the working group and with the project partners; focuses on impact and results for the project partners and responds positively to feedback;
• Cooperates with the working group effectively and demonstrates strong conflict resolution skills;
• Consistently approaches work with energy, positivity and a constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates strong influencing and facilitation skills;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored under pressure;
• Demonstrates openness to change, new ideas and ability to manage ambiguity;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Demonstrates the ability to transfer knowledge and competencies;
• Is able to work independently and hurdle competing priorities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Law/Business administration/Public Policy/ Social Science/Environmental study/Geology or other relevant fields (minimum requirement: Bachelor’s degree - 9 points; Master’s degree – additional 1 point)

Experience:

• At least five years of proven working experience with government agencies and/or international organizations implementing or supporting the mining sector institutional and regulatory reforms (minimum requirement: 5 years - 13 points; more than 5 years – additional 2 points);
• At least five years of hands-on experience in developing mining sector regulatory policy documents and/or suggestions of sustainable management of mineral resources with special focus on inspection guidelines (minimum requirement: 5 years - 13 points; more than 5 years – additional 2 points);
• Hands-on experience in development of the inspection methodologies and criteria will be an asset (5 points);
• Proven experience and knowledge of Monitoring and inspection systems of the extractive sector will be an asset (5 points);
• Experience in conducting the trainings on inspection methodologies will be an asset;
• Experience in working with the public-sector organization will be an asset;
• Similar working in experience in Eastern Europe countries or countries in political transition would be an asset.

 Language requirements:

• Excellent English language skills (both written and oral).

Evaluation: 

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis method: Offerors will be evaluated against combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum obtainable score is 100, out of which the total score for technical criteria equals to 70 (desk review 50 points and interview 20 points) and for financial criteria – to 30. Offerors that do not meet Minimum Qualification Criteria will be automatically rejected, while the rest will form up the long list. The offerors who obtain minimum 35 points as a result of the desk review will be invited for the interview. Offerors who pass 70% threshold, i.e. obtain minimum 14 points, as a result of the interview will be requested the financial proposal.

Financial Proposal:

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the ToR.  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount. Maximum 30 points will be assigned to the lowest price offer. All other price offers will be scored using the formula (inverse proportion):  Financial score X = 30* the lowest price offer/suggested price offer. All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal as well.

Payment modality:

The payment schedule is given below and will be made upon completion of activities and submission and approval of deliverables by the supervisor:

• Desk review report of the existing practice of conducting inspection of the mining companies; Good international practices of mining sector inspection mechanisms; Workshop with key stakeholders to present the main findings of the first mission: 20% of the consultancy fee;
• Elaborated inspection mechanisms; Developed guidelines for inspections that are aligned with international good practices; Workshop with key stakeholders to present the elaborated and finalized documents to stakeholders): 40% of the consultancy fee;
• Training module on inspection mechanisms; Trainings of inspectors and agency staff; Meeting at the national level (private sector, civil society and environmental NGO representatives) to introduce the finalized documents; Training report containing information on the accomplishment and scope of work as well as respective recommendations based on observations made during the trainings; Final consultancy report covering work conducted during the mission including major findings and recommendations as well as technical training results: 40% of the consultancy fee.